“Pop-ups are an opportunity to fill space where we haven’t secured a long- term retailer.”

over a big two-floor unit, trading on the

ground floor and using the extra space upstairs to store their Christmas trees. It certainly helped footfall within the scheme, shoppers vote with their feet and they were going in and buying. The CEO said he was delighted with the performance – they significantly exceeded their sales targets and hope to return this year.” Other Christmas pop ups at Grafton included celebrity photography and music merchandise specialists Star Editions, gadget retailer Menkind and a discount book seller, which was used to fill a unit temporarily before a long term retailer which had signed for it on a 10-year lease moved in. “Retailers have these pressure points,

Christmas being the main one,” explains Phipps. “After October it’s too late for them to make the best of Christmas trade so we put a pop up in before the long term retailer

SHOPPING CENTRE FEBRUARY 2013

started fitting out in the New Year. It’s great for us to be able to fill a vacant unit as well as having a long term letting lined up.” Like Prupim, Peel Land &#38; Property

brought in a Christmas-themed pop up at the Peel Centre in Stockport. Santa’s Superstore was integrated with the centre’s grotto and sold an extensive range of high quality artificial and fibre-optic Christmas trees at wholesale prices, fairy lights, decorations, gift-wrap, greeting cards and other Christmas accessories. But pop ups don’t have to be run by new or independent retailers, as Chris Gates, director of retail at Hitachi Consulting UK, explains: “Every town has stores lying empty. So how long before we see major retailers regularly move in for short periods, taking advantage of seasonal opportunities or major events taking place locally? “A pop up store can create a new and unique shop front for a brand that has